Chronicles of a Watchman by Dr. James P. Norman Jr.

TO BE IN CHRIST – THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN (PART THREE)   You say, I thought a carnal Christian was a backslider somebody for instance who used to go to church but has run off with somebody else’s wife! Oh no! That is only one kind of carnal Christian, and I would not suggest that you were that kind of carnal Christian.   No, No! I am talking about some Sunday school teachers. I am talking about some Sunday school superintendents. I am talking about some Pastor in his pulpit. I am talking about some missionary on the field. I am talking about many ordinary average earnest Christians. They are wonderful people. You would love to meet them. They talk all the language of salvation and they mean every work. They say they are not hypocrites.   They are overwhelmed inwardly with a sense of defeat, frustration, futility and bareness. When you meet them they will smile sweetly and they will mean the smile they give you. They will grip you by the hand and they will say ...

An important work of the Spirit of God clearly is to protect God’s people.   Christians are protected by the power of God and identified as His because He put His Spirit on them as a seal.   This security is a great source of assurance for Christians.   Those who live with such security and assurance, quite understandably experience boldness, joy, and peace as a result the Spirit is also a deposit, or down payment.   A deposit is simply the first payment.   The remainder will come later.   The Gift of the Spirit is God’s first payment to His people.   The remainder of His blessings will be given later in the life to come.   This Spirit’s presence with us is a foretaste of the life to come.   Humanity Restored   God will redeem or fully restore believers in Christ so we perfectly conform to His will.   Until then, the Spirit in our lives guarantees we will be redeemed.   The Church, the saints love “does” more than it “fee...

We should be allowing the Spirit of Faith to advance us further, and further into the victories against evil, and satanic spirits.   This revelation is still made available to us who are called into the Five-Fold ministry.   Each office, by title and call, still has that access into another’s office, or call to profit the whole body of Christ.   1 Thessalonians 2:1 says that it’s obvious that our coming here was no waste of time.   We have been given a lot of rough treatment over the years, as you know, but that hasn’t slowed us down or stopped us to this day.   We are sure of ourselves in God, and are going right ahead presenting God’s message to you in defiant opposition to evil and biblical error.   God is constantly training us thoroughly to make sure we are qualified to be trusted with this message.   Be assured that when we speak to you we are not after crowd approval but God’s approval.   Since we’ve been put through the battery of...

Hebrews 5:11-14 says, “Of Christ, we have many things to say and difficult to make clear to you, not because they are mysteries, but because you are slow to grasp the doctrines delivered you.   You are dull and slothful not willing to self-judge.   It is not true that it is so complicated.   The trouble is with men who take the wrong attitude due to their religious background.   One factor is that preachers and teachers today do not emphasize the gifts of the Spirit nor do they stir up the gifts.   People are not hungry for Holiness and Righteousness.   Many today are not keeping the principles and standards to continue to build on.   You have been professed Christians long enough to be examples, but because of your laziness and dullness in grasping truth, your desire to be liked has made it a must to be taught a second time the first simple doctrines of Christ.   You have not grown at all.   You have become of those who drawback, and have...

I have heard some believers say, “I am conscious of no fault,” but that does not in itself make certain, or sure that God's acquittal respects this particular charge.  This poses an interesting corollary relative to the positions of faith and justification.   The usage of the Epistle of James does not contradict this which states that we are justified only by such faith that makes us faithful and produces good works. 1 Corinthians 4:4 states "For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord." James 2:21,23, and 24 asserts "was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Further and careful examination reveals that James is denouncing a dead faith,...

Faith in God makes you an asset not a liability.  You are not here to please the world or the flesh.  You are here to show the world an image of God.  You are showing God that his purpose for you and your faith in the Word is working for the benefit of all. His plan and purpose were ordained and established when he created Man.  Anything that has to do with God's creation, I repeat God's creation, the devil and his cohorts have tried to corrupt and alter God's plan for how it is to operate.  All alterations from God's plan for male, female functions, he (Satan) has altered.  At the fall of Adam, Satan went about attacking everything God created, and God's purpose for that creation.  Satan's big trick was to blame God for the evil creatures, sickness, famine, wars, climate change...etc. Years ago, I did a study  on Solomon and his writings on the Book of Proverbs. I found he could not keep the Proverbs, so he wrote them. The Book of Prover...

The words in Ephesians 5:18 are “Be filled with the Spirit.” There are four grammatical rules in the Greek language which lead us to four truths relative to this great subject.   First, the verb is the imperative mode.   That is, it is imperative that we be filled with the Spirit.   God commands it, and gives access both ways--By Him and by us.   The fullness is the divine enablement in the life of a Christian which results in a Christ-like life.   The fullness of the Spirit, if we are looking to please God in this life, can only happen in the beauty of holiness.   Failure to be filled with the Spirit is sin and results in failure to live a life honoring to God.   Access only makes everything you ask to do by Jesus who is head of the Church clearer.   Second, the tense of the verb is present, and this tense in the imperative mode always represents action going on.   We learn from this that the mechanics of a spirit-filled life does not pr...

In the Old Testament, every demand God makes on a man is from His point of view and is completely logical. What is the demand that God makes of man? God said be ye holy as I am holy. How holy then is the natural question?  Even as I am holy. Utterly holy, totally holy in the absoluteness of God's righteousness.   In the New Testament, what is the demand the Lord Jesus would impose of us?   Matthew 5:48 says we should be holy, and be perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. These are demands on a man from God's point of view which is completely reasonable. Christ's logic is the goal not man's logic. Evasive is man shaming, ducking, dodging, that the Word of God, and stretching grace in a carnal direction that God never intended.   God made man to be in likeness and in His image -- not a carnal self-centered, ego driven Bible monster.   When God first made man, how holy do you think he was?   If, He made him in His ow...

Let’s talk about being under the influence of relativism. Many of our teachers and preachers have evolved into a practical denial of Christ’s deity and His atonement. We have turned “grace” into a no harm, no foul doctrine. In other words, man can cure himself. There is no definition or rule to determine good or bad. All can be reasoned with, and allow political correctness to straighten out all questions on sin and evil. Grace doctrine today leads the saints and ministers away from the true meaning of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Grace ( Charis -Grk [1] ) is the power and authority to fight for a life of Holiness. Grace is not the hall pass to commit sin and keep doing it. In other words, grace would empower a believer to live in such a way that denotes a life in Christ is worth not practicing sin and continually asking forgiveness.   The American Church can recover from this failure to properly glean the true meaning of the dispens...